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After going missing for several days in 2009 (during which his staff tried their damnedest to pretend he wasn't), it turned out he was having an affair with a woman in Argentina. As the most publicized cover story his staff could come up with was "hiking the Appalachian trail," the phrase entered the political lexicon as a euphemism for a secret tryst[1] (tryst itself meaning; "When people are sneaking to meet, notably as secret lovers").[2] The staff did not know that it was "Naked Hiking Day."[3]

Most notable was his reaction to being caught. Instead of trotting out the children and wife, and begging forgiveness, he instead blubbered through how the woman he was having an affair with was his soul-mate, but also how much he regretted hurting his (rich) wife. In many ways, it sounded like a man who was truly wrestling with the fact that his heart and his religiondidn't mesh. Not that it lasted long; he is back to being a "values" dick.[4]

Speaking to the engagement level of his constituency and state representatives, he not only avoided impeachment for his lying and misuse of public funds, he was also elected back to the United States House of Representatives in 2012.